Regional Economic Development (RED) Procedures Handbook

1 Regional Economic Development (RED) Procedures Handbook 2011-RPT-01 March 2011 The Institute for Water Resources (IWR) is a Corps of Engineers Field Operating Activity located within the Washington DC National Capital Region (NCR), in Alexandria, Virginia and with satellite centers in New Orleans, LA and Davis, CA. IWR was created in 1969 to analyze and anticipate changing water resources management conditions, and to develop planning methods and analytical tools to address Economic , social, institutional, and environmental needs in water resources planning and policy. Since its inception, IWR has been a leader in the Development of strategies and tools for planning and executing the Corps water resources planning and water management programs.

2 IWR strives to improve the performance of the Corps water resources program by examining water resources problems and offering practical solutions through a wide variety of technology transfer mechanisms. In addition to hosting and leading Corps participation in national forums, these include the production of white papers, reports, workshops, training courses, guidance and manuals of practice; the Development of new planning, socio- Economic , and risk-based decision-support methodologies, improved hydrologic engineering methods and software tools; and the management of national waterborne commerce statistics and other Civil Works information systems. IWR serves as the Corps expertise center for integrated water resources planning and management; hydrologic engineering; collaborative planning and environmental conflict resolution; and waterborne commerce data and marine transportation systems.

3 The Institute s Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), located in Davis, CA specializes in the Development , documentation, training, and application of hydrologic engineering and hydrologic models. IWR s Navigation Data Center (NDC) and its Waterborne Commerce Statistical Center (WCSC) in New Orleans, LA, is the Corps data collection organization for waterborne commerce, vessel characteristics, port facilities, dredging information, and information on navigation locks. Other enterprise centers at the Institute s NCR office include the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), which is a distributed, intergovernmental center, established in partnership with various Universities and non-Government organizations; and a Collaborative Planning Center which includes a focus on both the processes associated with conflict resolution, and the integration of public participation techniques with decision support and technical modeling Computer Assisted Dispute Resolution (CADRe).

4 The Institute plays a prominent role within a number of the Corps technical Communities of Practice (CoP), including the Economics CoP. The Corps Chief Economist is resident at the Institute, along with a critical mass of economists, sociologists and geographers specializing in water and natural resources investment decision support analysis and multi-criteria tradeoff techniques. For further information on the Institute s activities associated with the Corps Economics Community of Practice (CoP) please contact Chief Economist, Dr. David Moser, at 703-428-6289, or via-mail at: The IWR contact for the Corps Planning CoP activities is Ms. Lillian Almodovar at 703-428-6021, or: The Director of IWR is Mr.

5 Robert A. Pietrowsky, who can be contacted at 703-428-8015, or via e-mail at: Additional information on IWR can be found at: IWR s NCR mailing address is: Army Institute for Water Resources 7701 Telegraph Road, 2nd Floor Casey Building Alexandria, VA 22315-3868 Regional Economic Development (RED) Procedures Handbook 2011-RPT-01 March 2011 Wesley Bushnell Huntsville Engineering Center Kevin Knight Institute for Water Resources Regional Economic Development Handbook Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources Page i ABOUT THE AUTHORSW esley Bushnell is a MILCON and energy economist for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Engineering Center. Prior to working in Huntsville, Wesley worked in the Savannah District primarily on flood risk management and deep draft navigation projects; and later at the Jacksonville District, where he served as planner for several Everglades Restoration projects.

6 Kevin Knight is an economist for the Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources (IWR). Prior to joining IWR in 2008, Kevin worked for the San Francisco District for 13 years, serving part of that time as Team Leader for the District s Economics Section. He was also a Regional technical specialist for the South Pacific Division (SPD) on matters dealing with economics, planning and deep draft navigation. Regional Economic Development Handbook Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources Page ii ForewordThe Corps of Engineers Planning Excellence Program is designed to build planning capability now and for the future. Economics is a vital component of the planning process and updating the National Economic Development manual series is a key element of the Planning Excellence Program.

7 I appreciate the efforts of the interdisciplinary team across the Corps, local sponsors and others who contributed to this Handbook . I am pleased to endorse its use as a tool for the Planning Community of Practice to reach out to all who are interested in our work. Harry E. Kitch, Planning Community of Practice Deputy Chief, Planning Civil Works As the Corps of Engineers strives to improve its planning and decision making, Economic analysis is one of its most reliable and important tools. A critical element of successful Economic analysis is communication with others in gathering data, making assumptions, developing models and presenting results. Dr. David Moser Chief Economist U.

8 S. Army Corps of EngineersRegional Economic Development Handbook Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources Page iii AcknowledgementsAs part of the Planning Guidance Improvement Program, this Regional Economic Development (RED) Handbook is one of a series of important resource documents for performing comprehensive Economic analysis within the Corps of Engineers Civil Works program. This Handbook also supports the application of collaborative planning, particularly the use of the RED account in project analysis, as presented in Engineering Circular (EC) 1105-2-409 Planning in a Collaborative Environment (31 May 05). Ms. Lillian Almodovar of the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) has provided critical support to this effort.

9 Mr. Darrell Nolton of IWR has been effective and generous in serving as the Program Manager for the Planning Guidance Improvement Program. This work was being performed by the Institute for Water Resources (IWR), under the direction of Lillian Almod var, in support of Headquarters, Army Corps of Engineers (HQUSACE). Harry Kitch is the HQUSACE proponent. Wes Bushnell of the Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Engineering Center was the principal author for the Handbook and later, Kevin Knight of IWR. Susan Durden served as technical monitor and helped to kick off the effort. Several RED case studies were furnished by Corps district and former IWR staff namely: Mark Bierman (formerly with the Los Angeles District, now with the San Francisco District), Dr.

10 Dennis Robinson (University of Missouri), Gary Bedker (Sacramento District). Valuable review comments and support were provided by Dr. Dennis Robinson (University of Missouri), Lorraine Cordova (Alaska District), Dr. David Moser (IWR), Dr. Wen-Huei Chang (IWR), Dr. Norm Starler (IWR), Susan Durden (IWR), Erin Rooks (IWR), Rick Eberts (Rock Island District), Margaret Ryan (Kansas City District) and Jennifer Henggeler (Kansas City District). Thank you to the many others, not mentioned by name that showed interest, and offered Economic Development Handbook Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources Page iv Executive Summary EC 1105-2-409, Planning in a Collaborative Environment (EC 409), greatly increases the emphasis and potential application of the Regional Economic Development (RED) account by stating that all four Principles & Guidelines accounts (National Economic Development , Environmental Quality, Regional Economic Development and Other Social Effects) will be considered in project analysis and decision making.